Porsche has officially ditched its plans for a redesigned engine for the 963 LMDh contender in the World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship.
The proposed update, which aimed to transition from a 180-degree flat-plane crankshaft to a 90-degree crankshaft, has now been deemed “dead,” as confirmed by Urs Kuratle, the project leader for the 963 at Porsche Motorsport.
“We are not proceeding with the crankshaft; it is not going to happen,” Kuratle stated.
This statement marks the definitive confirmation that the upgraded version of the 4.6-liter twin-turbo V8 engine has been abandoned.
Before the Le Mans 24 Hours, which is a double-points event in WEC, Kuratle indicated that they would stick with the current engine if it performed well throughout the French endurance race without significant reliability concerns linked to the engine.
“It might be canceled,” Kuratle mentioned to Autosport following the pre-Le Mans WEC event at Spa in early May.
“We have participated in all these races [WEC and IMSA] this year, and we haven’t encountered any reliability issues, so why introduce a new engine?”
#5 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Matt Campbell, Michael Christensen, Frederic Makowiecki
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
Porsche Motorsport chief Thomas Laudenbach emphasized that the automaker did not experience any issues during the Le Mans race, where it achieved a commendable fourth-place finish, along with four cars finishing in the top 10.
“The car is highly reliable, and it is performing well, so why should we alter it?” he commented.
Porsche had begun work on the revised V8 last year to minimize vibrations that were believed to be negatively impacting the reliability of the hybrid system required by the LMDh regulations.
Laudenbach described the effort as a “workaround” intended to reduce vibrations affecting the bell-housing mounted motor generator unit (MGU) provided by Bosch Motorsport.
Following improvements to the energy-retrieval system over the previous winter, Porsche managed to secure victory at the Daytona 24 Hours, the IMSA season opener, in January, thus resolving hybrid reliability concerns.
Earlier this year, Porsche acknowledged the development of the revised engine but never confirmed a commitment to fielding it in races.
The revised engine was only tested in the laboratory and never installed in a vehicle.
The new engine would likely have served as an evo joker upgrade permitted under the LMDh and Le Mans Hypercar regulations.
Both Laudenbach and Kuratle refrained from commenting on whether Porsche plans to utilize one of the five jokers allocated during the initial five-year period of the 963 for the upcoming season.
“Certainly, we aim to implement some enhancements for next year,” Laudenbach stated.
However, he declined to disclose whether those enhancements would involve using a joker.
